St Albans gained a vital win in Saracens Herts Division Two A to claw back some of the ground lost to the rest of the league.

The Clarence Park outfit are bottom of the table, 46 points adrift of Holtwhite Trinibis, and remain in a precarious position in their first year in the division following last season’s relegation.

Saturday’s victory, a five-wicket win over Northchurch, eased a little bit of pressure on Matt Howeson’s side ahead of their trip Holtwhite. A win will cut the gap to 16 points.

Phil Caley, who has been superb with the bat in recent weeks, averaging 54.2 in his last five starts, and Max Capaldi lifted St Albans to their first home win of 2015, putting 92 runs on the board for the sixth wicket.

Henry Tyler set them up to win the game with a knock of 58. His departure, at 106-5, left Caley and Capaldi needing 91 runs from 23 overs.

Caley cracked three consecutive boundaries to start his innings and ended it in the same manner, scything the field to bring up his half-century and win the game.

Capaldi finished unbeaten 40, adding to the four wickets he took earlier in the game as the bowling attack restricted Northchurch to 196-9 from 53 overs, a total that wasn’t enough as St Albans completed their second successful chase of the season and closed the gap on the rest of the division.